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Garmin Foretrex 201 on a Hobie Getaway

Purchased the GPS from Amazon since it had the lowest price and free shipping. I chose the 201 since it has a rechargeable battery that lasts 12-15 hours, which should be good for day sailing. If I were doing longer sails I would get the Foretrex 101 that takes AAA batteries.

The GPS fits nicely on the mast. I just strap it on after stepping the mast - it slips on the mast just inside of the downhaul. Unfortunately you can't read it very easily on the opposite tack, but you could wear it on your wrist if you need to always see it.


The 'Track' feature is nice to see where you went. This is my track from a lazy Saturday sail at the Texas City Dike.


and a zoomed in view:


This shows how the Garmin map program lets you get very detailed on how fast you were going on each leg. In this shot I selected a range of points and it showed me the highlighted points on the map and gave me average speeds for that part of the trip (hey, I had 5 people on board and 2 7-year old crewmembers who delighted in sitting up front and dragging their feet in the water!).